


Trouble Follows

by AriRashkae



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Cats, Fluff, Gen, Language, but there's really no relationship stuff in this one, not canon for sephet's 'verse, the 'verse is a Lolix highschool AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-05 03:09:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6686752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AriRashkae/pseuds/AriRashkae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trouble follows Felix wherever he goes, even when it's not his fault</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trouble Follows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sephet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sephet/gifts).



Set in sephet's [The Kids Aren't Alright](http://archiveofourown.org/series/433573) 'verse. 

===

It was Locus' fault.

Technically, Kaylee had spotted her first, but she wouldn't have come over to them if Locus hadn't caught her attention. And then she had seen Felix and hadn't left him alone since.

So it was all Locus' fault.

(That, and blaming things on Kaylee was not the healthiest choice for him to make.)

So now, thanks to Locus (and Kaylee, not that he'd think _that_ , nooooo), Felix was determinedly ignoring what was about to become his third detention in as many days. 

And he'd been trying _so_ hard to be good lately. Too bad he had a reputation as a troublemaker. He didn’t regret what he’d done to earn it (most of it. He could have been smarter about a few things), but it really wasn’t helping right now.

"Mister. Lau." Oh, last names were _never_ a good sign. Especially in that tone. Ms. Schwarz's voice had plummeted past 'cold' and was now approaching 'glacial'. Felix winced, but gamely met her eyes, trying to put as much genuine innocence (and he _was_ innocent, of this anyway) in his eyes as he could.

"Yes, Ms. Schwarz?" he asked, knowing what was coming but hoping that, just once, the universe would cut him a break.

No such luck. "You _are_ aware by now that pets are not allowed at Charon Academy, correct?" He wilted under her glare.

"Yes, Ms. Schwarz," he answered miserably. There was no point in protesting that she wasn't his. She's been following him around for almost a week now, despite his best efforts to ignore, avoid, and discourage her.

Well, maybe not that last part. He couldn't bring himself to forcibly drive her off when she was just looking for a little affection (and food, thank you very much, Locus).

And cats always did whatever they fuck-all pleased, when it pleased them, anyway. So Felix was screwed.

"Then remove it from the classroom and see me after class." Zachary shot him a sympathetic look but kept quiet. The rest of the students snickered at his misfortune.

He swallowed the urge to protest. He was a student at Charon, with a reputation for troublemaking, and the cat followed him like he had tuna in his pockets. No one outside his tiny circle of friends was going to believe him. "Yes, Ms. Schwarz."

===

Felix shifted for what had to have been the fifth time in ten minutes, trying to find a comfortable position. Even with the weight he'd put on, it still felt like his bones were resting right against the hard plastic chair. Maybe that was on purpose. The only people sitting in these chairs were the ones who were in Big Trouble. Why make them comfortable?

Cats, of course, could be comfortable anywhere they chose. Even sitting outside the Principal's Office. Even sprawled across a second chair and into Felix's lap. Felix folded his arms, trying to tuck his hands away, but she simply crawled completely into his lap and buried her head in search of pettings.

Felix threw a pleading look at the secretary. She pointedly ignored him. Right, reputation. Legitimately earned, he admitted, but a pain in the ass when he was actually innocent.

"Good _afternoon,_ Sheila!" A gangly man in carpenter jeans and a stained and faded shirt burst into the office. Felix jumped, dumping the cat on the floor. She sniffed and hopped back up. "Is Mr. Hargrove available, by any chance? I need him to sign off on these requisition forms for the new-- oh, _hello,_ trouble, what are you doing here?"

Felix froze as the man's attention swung to him. No, to the _cat._ The stranger reached out and scratched behind her ears. "Making new friends, I see?" He smiled at Felix. The cat purred so loudly Felix could feel it in his chest.

"Who the fuck are you?" Felix blurted.

He gathered the cat in his arms. "Oh, I'm just the caretaker. Who are you?"

Felix eyed him warily. "Felix." He folded his arms again. If this weirdo wanted more than that he was going to be sorely disappointed.

"Well, Felix, it's a pleasure to meet you." He grabbed one of Felix's hands, shaking it enthusiastically. "I see you've already met Trouble." He grinned down at the cat.

"She certainly is," Felix grumbled. "Wait, she's _your_ cat?"

He grinned again, scratching her ears. "More or less, as much as a cat belongs to anyone. Why is that such a surprise?"

"Because she's been following me for almost a week!" And earning him detention after detention in the process.

The man laughed. "Well, you should be flattered. She has _excellent_ taste in people." He winked.

"Flattered!" Felix couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I got three detentions in three days because everyone thinks she's mine and now I have to see Har- Principal Hargrove to see what he's going to slap me with this time!"

The caretaker frowned. "Well that's not right. That's not right at all. Didn't you _tell_ anyone she wasn't your cat?" He cocked his head. "Seems to me that should have been the first thing to do."

"Like anyone believes the students here," Felix muttered. Sheila looked slightly abashed. Good. 

"Well! We'll just clear this up right now. Come along, Felix." He turned and strode into Hargrove's office, Trouble purring in his arms. Felix scrambled to follow before Sheila could stop them. 

Oh, he was so going to get fucked over by this.

Hargrove was not impressed to be barged in on. "What is the meaning of this?" The look on his face promised dire consequences for barging into his office. Felix tried to shrink back, but the caretaker clapped him on the back. 

"Young Felix here seems to have a bit of a problem."

"He most certainly does," Hargrove replied, icily calm. He frowned at Felix. "Mr. Lau. You were told to get rid of that animal and instead you decide to bring it to-"

"Actually, Mr. Hargrove, there seems to be a bit of a misunderstanding." Both Felix and Hargrove stared at the man. No one interrupted Principal Hargrove. _No one._ “You see, Trouble here is actually my cat. Or, I'm her person, depending on which one of us you ask. She's very picky about who she likes." He flashed a sunny smile at Hargrove. "And it seems she likes young Mr. Lau here."

"Your ... cat," Hargrove stated flatly.

"Yes, sir, indeed she is. Unfortunately, cats don't seem to be much for rules. Well, human rules anyway. And they are _excellent_ at getting into places they're not supposed to be. Bit of a specialty for them, really. So, really, in all fairness you can't blame this young man for the behavior of a cat that's not even his."

Hargrove looked like he'd bitten a lemon. The caretaker wasn't finished.

"After all, he can't help being a cat person. It's something you're born with." His voice somehow quieted and hardened at the same time. "So, I'd appreciate it if you struck those detentions from Mr. Lau's record. Can't do anything about the time served, but you _can_ let the staff know that she's not his pet and that he shouldn't be punished just because she decides to come visiting." The cat fixed an unblinking stare on the principal.

Felix barely dared breathe. A member of the staff going toe to toe with Hargrove ... over _him?_ This was going to bite him in the ass _so_ hard.

Hargrove very slowly folded his hands on his desk. "Why," he asked, tone edging into dangerous territory, "would I do that?"

" _'Why?'_ " Both eyebrows shot up. "Why, because it's the right thing to do, of course! After all, that's what this school is for, isn't it? Teaching the students right from wrong, showing them the error of their ways, turning them into productive members of a civilized society and all that?" He smiled pleasantly, but Felix caught a hint of steel out of the corner of his eye. "And punishing someone for something totally outside their control isn't right at _all_ , now is it?"

Hargrove clenched his jaw, a muscle twitching just below his eye. He was backed into a corner now. If he refused, he was essentially admitting that he had no intentions of trying to reform the students. If he agreed, he'd be backing down on his declarations to bring _discipline_ and _order_ to Charon Academy. Either way, that news would spread through the school like wildfire. And the fact that it was _Felix_ would only stick in his craw more.

"You would be right," Hargrove ground out.

Felix tried to shrink under the principal's glare without actually moving. He was screwed. _So_ screwed. Completely and utterly, dipped-it-in-glue-and-rolled-in-sand, _screwed._

The caretaker just stood there, smiling and petting his cat.

Silence reigned in the office for several _infinitely_ long seconds, broken only by the rumbling purr of Trouble, the source of all this trouble.

Hargrove stabbed the intercom button on his phone. "Sheila. _Kindly_ remove the pet related detentions from Mr. Lau's record. It seems the animal in question does not, in fact, belong to him but to a member of our staff." The flat tone of his voice threatened that said member of the staff might not remain so after this meeting.

Not that it seemed to bother him in the slightest. He only cleared his throat slightly and continued to scratch Trouble under the chin.

_"Yes, Mr. Hargrove,"_ Sheila answered.

"And send a message to the rest of the staff informing them of the animal's true ownership." Hargrove stopped there. He glared at the caretaker, silently daring him to demand more.

_"Yes, Mr. Hargrove."_

Felix couldn't believe he'd even gone that far. He was starting to get lightheaded from the lack of air. He let out a shaky squeak of a breath when the cat decided to butt her head into his shoulder. "Th-thank you, Mr. Hargrove, sir," he stammered.

Hargrove was not impressed. "Get. Out."

Felix fled.

===

"Wait, he not only got Hargrove to clear them off your record, but to tell all the teachers to stop giving you detention over her?" Anthony looked suitably impressed. He reached out to the cat, who had set up court in the middle of their table. She sniffed his fingers, but, finding them empty, ignored him in favor of Locus and his offerings of bits of roast beef.

"I know, right?" Felix chomped on a few more chips. "I thought I was done for sure. I didn't even get his name. I just booked before Hargrove changed his mind."

"Apparently, Trouble really does follow you everywhere," Kaylee said drily. Felix stuck his tongue out at her, crumbs and all. 

Abby slid a bit of her tuna sandwich over. This was deemed an acceptable tribute and she was permitted to give pettings. "This is going to be one fat cat by the end of the year."

===

Gossip had somehow gotten the story of Felix's detentions and their disappearance (and Felix was innocent of _that_ , too) and spread it at lightning speed, mutating it in the usual ways. Felix's current favorite was that Hargrove had gotten horribly mauled for trying to wring her neck in front of him. 

It turned out that he was not the only person Trouble followed. He simply happened to be her favorite. Over the next few weeks, they noticed her shadowing almost half the population of Charon.

Some people she abandoned after a few hours. Others she stuck with for most of the day. She even, somehow, knew which people were allergic and stayed well clear of them entirely. 

A few of the students were clearly unnerved by her. The rest thought she was the greatest thing ever. She even won over a few of the staff in her wandering.

But she always ended up joining Felix, Locus, and the others for meals.

And then, one day, she didn't.

===

It wasn't unusual for them to not see her at breakfast, so none of them thought anything of it when she didn't show up in the morning. When lunch rolled around without her, they all looked at each other, shrugged, and went to their afternoon classes.

By dinner time, no one had seen so much as a whisker, and they were starting to get worried.

"You don't think something happened to her, do you?" Abbey twirled her spaghetti over and over again.

Anthony tore off a piece of his garlic bread. "She probably figured out where the teachers are eating and is bumming food off them." He started pulling it into smaller and smaller pieces. Everyone seemed to have lost their appetite.

Felix snorted. "Maybe she'll bring some back for us." He poked at his salad, trying to convince himself he wasn't worried. None of them wanted to say what they were thinking; Hargrove was absolutely the type to have her 'removed' after being humiliated like that.

Locus nudged his leg. "She's a cat. She'll show up when it suits her."

"Which will probably be 1 AM, with a live mouse, which she will then drop on your face," Kaylee stated calmly. "Locus, I will want to know how high he shrieks, in excruciating detail." Felix flipped her off.

===

Trouble was not waiting for them at breakfast the next morning. Kaylee raised one eyebrow at Locus, but he shook his head.

Breakfast was surprisingly quiet at their table. Finally, Felix threw down his fork. "This is such bullshit," he declared. "She's not even our cat. Why the hell are we all moping?"

Abbey kicked him. "You're just as worried about her as the rest of us." She looked around. "I say if we don't see her by the end of classes, we should go look for her. Find the caretaker and ask if she's ok."

They all looked at each other and slowly nodded. Silently, they finished eating and split off to their respective classes.

Lunch was worse. They all tried to pretend they weren't concerned, but the laughter was forced and the conversations kept tapering off. Eventually, even Abbey gave up.

Felix forced himself to focus on the rest of his classes. He was already at the top of Hargrove's shit list. Possibly the only name on it. He didn't need to hand over any more reasons to hate him on a silver platter. But 'Felix' and 'patience' didn't occur in the same sentence, unless there was also something along the lines of 'lack of' in there too. So by the end of the day, he was wound so tight he actually stayed awake through History.

Five minutes before the last class ended, some asshole pulled the fire alarm.

===

"I'm going to kill someone," Felix stated very calmly. The fact that he was hanging upside down off his bed took some of the menace out of it.

Locus looked up from his notes. "Anyone in particular or is this just going to be a crime of opportunity?" He grinned and ducked the pillow sailing through the air. Felix had managed to put some impressive force on it, despite the odd angle.

Felix stuck out his tongue. "The dickwad that pulled the fire alarm. Why the hell do we have to wait in our rooms for a second headcount? We evacuated, they counted everyone, yay, done, false alarm, go do fuck all until dinner. But nooooo, we all have to go back to our rooms and wait until they check us off a list one room at a time. Fuckers." He scrubbed his hands over his face. "Ugh. How much _longer?"_ he whined.

Locus' reply was cut short when the door swung open. "Good, you two are here." Locus tried to remember which guard it was, but came up blank. Felix just didn't care. "You're the last ones on my list." He sounded at the end of his rope. "Checks are done, you can leave now." The guard took his own advice and spun on his heel, hurrying down the hall.

Felix lay there, stunned. "We were last?" He twisted to stare at Locus. "We were _last?"_

"Would you rather we were checked off early and still had to wait?" Locus stood up and offered him a hand.

Felix wrinkled his nose but let Locus pull him to his feet. "Fine. Let's see what gourmet delight the kitchen came up with this time."

Trouble was waiting at their table. Felix almost upended his tray in exasperation. She didn't seem to care.

===

Felix hunched over his desk, scribbling story ideas and crossing them out. Nothing was looking good, or even interesting. All around him, students worked on their assignments, or at least pretended to. The scratching of pens and pencils was the only real noise in the classroom.

Then a soft laugh went up in the back of the class and rippled forward. Felix glanced up at Ms. Schwarz. From the resigned look on her face, he knew what was coming down the aisle.

He heard snickering as Trouble jumped up on the desk behind him. Apparently she wanted to sit on his shoulder today. He continued working as she braced herself against his back.

Until he felt tiny pinpricks on his scalp and the laughter got louder. He jumped slightly and a tiny orange and black puffball tumbled off his head and landed on his desk. He stared at the kitten, whipped his head back in time to see the cat disappear through the doorway, and turned slowly back around.

Students were craning their necks around, standing to peer over each other. The kitten stumbled to her feet and mewled. Half the class cooed.

"Ms. Schwarz!" Felix panicked. He looked up at her, pleading. How was he supposed to deal with _this?_ A cat that liked to wander the campus was one thing. What was he supposed to do about a, a kitten _delivery_?

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just ... bring it back after class is over."

Felix nodded, heart still thumping from the adrenaline. The kitten was exploring his desk. Every few steps she let out a little squeak. She tripped too close to the edge and Felix's hands shot out to catch her. He pulled her to his chest, automatically stroking her head. Tiny claws latched onto his shirt and she scrambled up to tuck herself under his chin. She started purring, a tiny little tickle at his throat.

A folded note landed on his desk. _'Congratulations, you are officially a Disney princess.'_ Felix looked up to see Zachary's grin.

He was _definitely_ in trouble now.

**Author's Note:**

> sephet has been writing a Lolix highschool/reform school au series. The last few chapters (when I started writing) had been the 'out of the frying pan and into the shit' kind of chapters and my brain just noped. The kids were going through such hell I needed some fluff to sooth my nerves. We had been joking in the comments on the first fic about Felix getting a kitten, and my brain latched onto it. Of course, even in the fluff, things can't go well. They are little shits in a reform school, after all. ~~And trouble really does seem to follow Felix everywhere.~~
> 
> Trouble herself is a cat I actually owned several years ago. She was a white calico and yes, she would bring us presents. She was spayed though, so she never brought us kittens, just prey.
> 
> The tortoiseshell kitten is based on Faith, another cat I owned, an adopted stray, who was actually the mother of the three boys I own now. Neither girl brought me live mice, middle of the night or otherwise. The boys on the other hand ... If I can find my pictures of them, I'll try to add them.
> 
> Oh, and the reason the caretaker didn't get a name? When I was trying to write him, the Doctor stuck his nose in and wouldn't go away :P


End file.
